The Great Golden Valley Truck Wreck
By Mickey Brackett
Rush Rollins, my grandfather, drove a 1949 model Dodge pickup truck for years. The cab was dirty yellow and the bed was dirty black. This truck may have gotten wash jobs but I never witnessed one except when it rained. Like most if not all trucks made in the late 40s and 50s, it had a manual transmission with a long floor mounted gear stick. I made a few trips with my grandfather to nearby Forest City in this truck. He drove like a person with no stress, no appointments, and no certain time to return. Driving slowly was a necessity for him. He always smoked self-rolled Prince Albert cigarettes while driving. These smokes were always dropping hot embers onto his shirt causing a moment of chest slapping and hard language until the burning stopped. If this distraction ever caused an accident, I never knew of it. Every new shirt he wore soon had Prince Albert holes in them. Gasoline was less than 30 cents per gallon in the 1960s. Even at this bargain price money must have been extremely tight. Grandfather practiced the lost art of coasting down long hills to save fuel. At the hilltop he would grab the gear stick and push it to neutral and turn the switch off. Down the hill we would go free wheeling by the power of gravity. As we reached the bottom and started uphill, the truck would start losing speed at which time grandfather would push in the clutch, turn on the switch, push the gear stick into third or fourth gear, then let out the clutch. The engine would start back up, pulling the truck to the top of the next hill where he would do this procedure over again and again on the road to town and back. My grandfather had no other vehicles except the farm tractor. The old truck served my grandfather well.
Uses for the Dodge truck included hauling small loads of pulp wood to the closest pulp wood yard to be sold. I doubt the pickup would haul ½ cord of wood, but anyway, grandfather would use the yellow truck for this purpose. He never owned a power chain saw, but he still seemed to cut plenty of pulp wood. He used a buck saw, which is a one-man bow saw. This created no loud sound, no smoke, used no gasoline, and never needed to be taken to town for repairs. While cutting trees with this saw he always kept handy a short Coke bottle filled with kerosene. The bottle had dried pine needles stuffed halfway into the bottle neck. When the buck saw was not sawing well due to pine rosin, he would swab the pine needle end of the bottle across the blade. This may be done several times prior to falling a tree. After several trees were cut up, he would load the wood by hand onto the yellow truck. When he arrived at the pulp wood yard, he had to hand unload the wood onto a rail car. The whole process was slow, hard work but did give him some fishing money.
My grandfather loved to fish. I think that is why he never had a full-time public job, which would have interfered with his fishing schedule. His favorite fish to go after was the crappie. This fish was noted for large schools. If you found the right spot, a fisherman could fill a cooler with these good-tasting fish. Grandfather usually caught the fish using live minnows as bait that he seined from the creeks near his house. Fishing for crappie was typically done from a boat.
Even though grandfather fished regularly, he never owned a boat. He did however own a 10 horsepower Johnson outboard boat motor. Lake James, located between Marion and Morganton, was a favorite fishing spot for my grandfather. The lake was an estimated 25 miles from Golden Valley. I have seen cooler full after cooler full of crappie caught in Lake James by my grandfather and other lesser known fisherman like Bill Hauser, Coy Toney, Smoky Martin, and Leit Witherow. Any trip to the lake required loading the outboard motor, a two-cycle gas tank, cooler of ice, fish net, paddle, flashlight, drinking water jug, minnow bucket, rod & reels, tackle boxes, anchor (usually a concrete block), rope, lanterns, food, and soft drinks. This was loaded into the bed of the yellow Dodge truck. Two or three people would ride in the cab of the truck and off they would go. Once at Lake James they would rent a flat bottom John-boat from Benfields or Lance’s Boat Landing. All the fishing gear including the outboard motor would be unloaded from the truck and placed into the boat. They fished nights or days until the minnows were all gone or dead or the sun got too hot.
The great Golden Valley truck wreck occurred while returning from one of these fishing trips. The year may have been 1963. We still had no telephone in our house. Someone drove to tell us grandpa had been in a wreck on Highway 226 near Highway 64. Everyone jumped into the car and off we went. Wrecks were newsworthy. Mother was concerned about her dad. Was he hurt? I had not seen many wrecks so this was exciting to a 12-year-old boy. Highway 226 was a good secondary state road running between Shelby and Marion and beyond. This was grandfather’s normal route to and from Lake James. He must have fished all morning and was returning home mid-afternoon. Golden Valley is in Rutherford County and the Lake is in McDowell and Burke Counties. A ridge of the South Mountains is the boundary separating McDowell County from Rutherford County. Highway 226 goes over the western end of this South Mountain ridge and this is where the great Golden Valley truck wreck occurred. Grandfather was slowly climbing the McDowell County side of the ridge when he encountered another slower moving vehicle driven by Banner Huskins. If grandfather was going 35 mph, Banner must have been going 25 mph. Banner also drove a pickup truck which was older than my grandfather’s truck. These old trucks were well built of thick sheet metal, heavy axles, big tires, and strong steel frames. Grandpa did not like following such a slow poke and decided it was time to change positions. Going up the mountain grade, he moved over to the passing lane and started around the other vehicle, forgetting he was in an old truck heavily loaded with fishing gear.
There he was, heavily loaded, traveling uphill beside Banner Huskins, on a two-lane road, when a third vehicle coming down the hill straight at him was spotted. Grandpa pushed the gas pedal to the floor trying to make the old Dodge accelerate faster but without success. He had to do something and now! Turning to the right he hoped to clear Banner’s front bumper and pull in front of him. Instead, grandpa’s rear bumper caught Banner’s front bumper. The two bumpers joined at 25 mph and would not disconnect. The physics of this wreck I don’t fully understand. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The reaction turned the Dodge truck over on its side dumping the fishing gear out in multiple directions. Banner’s truck held upright and luckily no one was badly injured.
As is normal in such automobile accidents, the North Carolina Highway Patrol soon arrived. Someone had to be at fault. Someone should receive a violation, ticket, or fine. What was the cause of this wreck? This patrolman was not from Golden Valley. He did not know Rush Rollins or Banner Huskins; however, he would question each to fully understand what happened. He asked, “Who was driving the yellow truck?” “I was,” answered my grandfather. “Was speed the cause of this accident?” the patrolman asked. At times like this, one must dig deeply to find humor in such an unhappy situation and grandpa did. He answered with the Prince Albert cigarette in his mouth, “Yes, sir, it was. The lack of speed was the cause of the accident.” The patrolman gave grandpa a ticket for reckless driving in an old fishing truck.
Thinking the truck had seen its better days, grandpa sold the truck to Rob Freeman. Mr. Freeman drove the truck for 10 more years. Grandpa replaced the Dodge with a blue Ford pickup with a stick shift on the column. He continued to go fishing and coasted down many more hills while puffing on a Prince Albert cigarette.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Whitehouse Community Fund Raiser
Saturday, May 28 2011, Whitehouse Community Center is holding a Country Breakfast, Yard Sale and a Bake Sale from 6:30 - 10:30 AM at the clubhouse.
Breakfast Plates
Adults $5.00, Children 6-12 $2.50, Under 6 free
Breakfast Plates
Adults $5.00, Children 6-12 $2.50, Under 6 free
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Momma’s Teachings and The Shoe Cobbler by Elizabeth Whisenant Towery
"Do not expect my stories to be perfect in writing or language as I am not an educated writer ,however I try to write my stories in a language and manner so simple that everyone can read and understand."
Admittedly, Miss Betty is not an educated writer, that said, I would remind the reader of the published series of Foxfire Books. These were student interviews with older members of their communities. Miss Betty is an even more precious resource, a self-taught writer, who is willing to share her story-tales with you. I applaud her work and publish it with no editing. I have edited Miss Betty's stories and find that editing removes to much flavor to be worthwhile. Enjoy! KDMcCall
Momma’s Teachings and The Shoe Cobbler
by Elizabeth Whisenant Towery.
When I was very young and growing up in Asheville, Buncombe County N.C. I was taught much by my mother Geneva Poteet/Poteat Whisenant. ( My Poteat family are of Scotch /Irish descent ).As well as I remember mom said she received the equivalent of about a seventh grade education. I do not know where she learned the things she taught me but I well know her knowledge was more than what she was taught in her Enola School.
I remember many things that she said the Headmaster, as she called her teacher did say or teach but there is simply no way the school could have taught her all the things she passed on to my siblings and me. She quoted much of the Holy Bible, I feel certain she got that from her parents, as they were God-fearing Christian people although my grandmother was once churched for gossiping. (The last portion of the above sentence is from the minutes of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church ,Morganton N.C.).
Along with the Bible mother learned to sing the old songs and recited many poems. She quoted Mother Goose and Rebus Rhymes that she passed on to my siblings and me. Mother never called them songs or poems or old saying she called them little ditties.
I remember when a first cousin Leon Poteet, whose father Leon Gray Poteet ,my mom’s brother taught his son Rebus Rhymes.
I remember titles of songs Mom taught me and some songs. Mom sang such as Frankie and Johnny (Silvers), Barbara Allen, and the song her brother wrote about Gladys Kincade, a young girl killed near Mom’s and perhaps the girls home in the section of Enola, Morganton N.C. .
I remember in particular one song as I have more recently heard my Aunt Beatrice Poteet Hull sing the song. It is about a little girl whose mother made her a coat of many colors but Aunt Bea’s song told of a little girl had no shoes. If mom had sung that to me I had completely forgotten it. I thought of the song when Loretta Lynn sang her song of ’A Coat of Many Colors. I wondered if Lynn had heard the song my Poteet family sang.
I can’t write about all these things my Mother taught me but the little ditty that came to my mind today was the shoe cobbler ditty. My Mother called it a Mother Goose Rhyme. I believe Mother sang the verse rather than saying the words. I am not certain, as it has been about 64 years since I was a child growing up in Asheville. The verse I remember, although I don’t know the author was as follows.
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
give it a stitch and that will do.
Here's a nail, and there's a prod,
and now my shoe is well shod.
I’m certain I ask all the questions concerning the words of the ditty but it wasn’t until after I married that I actually saw the work of a shoe cobbler. I will get to that. However I begin my story with the following thought in mind.
It has been said that every hamlet (Rural community or village) had its shoe cobbler just as they had their own blacksmith. Many of the rural communities had their own Silversmith.
Local history tells us that the Aaron Devinney who married Sarah Hunt owned and operated a store and was the communities Silversmith He was called as if it were his name Silversmith Aaron Devinney. He left many descendents scattered over the country. I will leave this unique occupation of Aaron’s for another writing.
History also tells us that the George Towery who married Rosanna Brackett was the blacksmith and had a blacksmith shop and became the community’s blacksmith. He too was called by the name of his profession Blacksmith George Towery.
I feel certain the community had it own shoe cobbler but I never heard who it was or if Golden Valley had a shoe cobbler. I know that there were many families where either the father or the son did the shoe cobbling for the family and most of the same did the mending of the grand children‘s shoes.
In the Higgins Towery family the son Clevie became the shoe cobbler. He never had a little shoe cobbler building but he did have a special place to do his shoe mending. It was a certain area on the back porch that he mended the family’s shoes.
By the time I became a member of the Towery family Clevie had a church bench on one of the three sides of the wrap around porch of the house. It was on the backside of the wrap around porch and there is where he placed his shoe cobblers tools. Clevie had pieces of car tires that he used to mend or make the soles and heels with. His shoe tacks were kept in a tin ‘Dental Snuff ‘can .The tacks were all of one color but that made no difference as the tacks were never seen anyway.
Clevie also had a shoe lasts, which is a form in the approximate shape of a human foot, used in shoemaking to produce the fit of a shoe or boot. In later years Clevie bought taps to put on shoes. Those taps were put on the side of the shoe or heel that was worn so as to let the foot sit level instead of leaning to one side.
Cleve also had some really good, glue. A hammer, pliers ,an awl , and a rasp he used to roughen the pieces of tire that he cut to make a shoe sole so the glue would hold better. He kept a very sturdy needle and heavy thread and a punch and also a can of shoe wax in the box to polish the shoes. He never threw away a pair of shoestrings. They were saved and used until they wouldn’t tie with out breaking. These items or as Clevie might say supplies were all kept in a wooden box with a leather home made handle on top of the box Clevie had made the box for the purpose of keeping everything he needed all together. The handle wasn’t the only part of the shoe box that was made of leather. He had a strip of leather tacked across the top of the box onto the box, that acted as a hinge.
When Clevie finished his shoe cobbling he neatly placed every item in its place in the box. He kept his box behind the back hall door where there were shelves that had been built for another purpose. When he was ready to mend a shoe he picked up the box and carried it to the church bench there he had all his supplies ready for use. When he was ’low’ on an item he always said to his spouse, don’t let me forget to get shoe tacks (or what ever item he needed) the next time I go to the store. Clevie did a professional job at keeping the family’s shoe repair work done.
In today’s society we usually have one place of business for all our shoe repair, heel repair, boot repair, shoe shine and accessories needs and that eliminates the need for a shoe cobbler in every family.
Source: Personal knowledge .
Written about 1988.
Canning the Family’s hog meat.
Written about 1988.
There were shelves from near the top of the house to the shelf near the floor that Clevie’s wife Beatrice had her son Talmadge build for her to place her canned goods on. As she emptied a jar of canned goods she would wash the jar and place it back on the shelf. When canning time came she had her jars handy and ready to be rewashed and sterilized for her next canning work. To sterilize the canning jars Beatrice would put water in clean jars and place them in a pan of water, then she heated the jars to the boiling point and boiled them for several minutes.
Beatrice canned more than fruits and vegetables. When a hog was killed, she canned sausage, rib meat and the meat from back bones. She canned the ribs, bone and meat together but the back bones took up too much room in the jar so she removed the bone before canning the meat .The ribs and back bone meat were canned all in the same jars.
Beatrice cooked the meat before placing in the jar then cooked it more after it was in the jar. She would turn the jars upside down for the grease to solidify and remain on top of the jar and meat.
With the process of home canning the family could still have meats for their meals all summer.
I don’t know how Clevie got permission to use a place on a shelf for his shoe cobbler box because those shelves belonged to his wife, but there is where the box remained for as long as he mended shoes.
Admittedly, Miss Betty is not an educated writer, that said, I would remind the reader of the published series of Foxfire Books. These were student interviews with older members of their communities. Miss Betty is an even more precious resource, a self-taught writer, who is willing to share her story-tales with you. I applaud her work and publish it with no editing. I have edited Miss Betty's stories and find that editing removes to much flavor to be worthwhile. Enjoy! KDMcCall
Momma’s Teachings and The Shoe Cobbler
by Elizabeth Whisenant Towery.
When I was very young and growing up in Asheville, Buncombe County N.C. I was taught much by my mother Geneva Poteet/Poteat Whisenant. ( My Poteat family are of Scotch /Irish descent ).As well as I remember mom said she received the equivalent of about a seventh grade education. I do not know where she learned the things she taught me but I well know her knowledge was more than what she was taught in her Enola School.
I remember many things that she said the Headmaster, as she called her teacher did say or teach but there is simply no way the school could have taught her all the things she passed on to my siblings and me. She quoted much of the Holy Bible, I feel certain she got that from her parents, as they were God-fearing Christian people although my grandmother was once churched for gossiping. (The last portion of the above sentence is from the minutes of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church ,Morganton N.C.).
Along with the Bible mother learned to sing the old songs and recited many poems. She quoted Mother Goose and Rebus Rhymes that she passed on to my siblings and me. Mother never called them songs or poems or old saying she called them little ditties.
I remember when a first cousin Leon Poteet, whose father Leon Gray Poteet ,my mom’s brother taught his son Rebus Rhymes.
I remember titles of songs Mom taught me and some songs. Mom sang such as Frankie and Johnny (Silvers), Barbara Allen, and the song her brother wrote about Gladys Kincade, a young girl killed near Mom’s and perhaps the girls home in the section of Enola, Morganton N.C. .
I remember in particular one song as I have more recently heard my Aunt Beatrice Poteet Hull sing the song. It is about a little girl whose mother made her a coat of many colors but Aunt Bea’s song told of a little girl had no shoes. If mom had sung that to me I had completely forgotten it. I thought of the song when Loretta Lynn sang her song of ’A Coat of Many Colors. I wondered if Lynn had heard the song my Poteet family sang.
I can’t write about all these things my Mother taught me but the little ditty that came to my mind today was the shoe cobbler ditty. My Mother called it a Mother Goose Rhyme. I believe Mother sang the verse rather than saying the words. I am not certain, as it has been about 64 years since I was a child growing up in Asheville. The verse I remember, although I don’t know the author was as follows.
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
give it a stitch and that will do.
Here's a nail, and there's a prod,
and now my shoe is well shod.
I’m certain I ask all the questions concerning the words of the ditty but it wasn’t until after I married that I actually saw the work of a shoe cobbler. I will get to that. However I begin my story with the following thought in mind.
It has been said that every hamlet (Rural community or village) had its shoe cobbler just as they had their own blacksmith. Many of the rural communities had their own Silversmith.
Local history tells us that the Aaron Devinney who married Sarah Hunt owned and operated a store and was the communities Silversmith He was called as if it were his name Silversmith Aaron Devinney. He left many descendents scattered over the country. I will leave this unique occupation of Aaron’s for another writing.
History also tells us that the George Towery who married Rosanna Brackett was the blacksmith and had a blacksmith shop and became the community’s blacksmith. He too was called by the name of his profession Blacksmith George Towery.
I feel certain the community had it own shoe cobbler but I never heard who it was or if Golden Valley had a shoe cobbler. I know that there were many families where either the father or the son did the shoe cobbling for the family and most of the same did the mending of the grand children‘s shoes.
In the Higgins Towery family the son Clevie became the shoe cobbler. He never had a little shoe cobbler building but he did have a special place to do his shoe mending. It was a certain area on the back porch that he mended the family’s shoes.
By the time I became a member of the Towery family Clevie had a church bench on one of the three sides of the wrap around porch of the house. It was on the backside of the wrap around porch and there is where he placed his shoe cobblers tools. Clevie had pieces of car tires that he used to mend or make the soles and heels with. His shoe tacks were kept in a tin ‘Dental Snuff ‘can .The tacks were all of one color but that made no difference as the tacks were never seen anyway.
Clevie also had a shoe lasts, which is a form in the approximate shape of a human foot, used in shoemaking to produce the fit of a shoe or boot. In later years Clevie bought taps to put on shoes. Those taps were put on the side of the shoe or heel that was worn so as to let the foot sit level instead of leaning to one side.
Cleve also had some really good, glue. A hammer, pliers ,an awl , and a rasp he used to roughen the pieces of tire that he cut to make a shoe sole so the glue would hold better. He kept a very sturdy needle and heavy thread and a punch and also a can of shoe wax in the box to polish the shoes. He never threw away a pair of shoestrings. They were saved and used until they wouldn’t tie with out breaking. These items or as Clevie might say supplies were all kept in a wooden box with a leather home made handle on top of the box Clevie had made the box for the purpose of keeping everything he needed all together. The handle wasn’t the only part of the shoe box that was made of leather. He had a strip of leather tacked across the top of the box onto the box, that acted as a hinge.
When Clevie finished his shoe cobbling he neatly placed every item in its place in the box. He kept his box behind the back hall door where there were shelves that had been built for another purpose. When he was ready to mend a shoe he picked up the box and carried it to the church bench there he had all his supplies ready for use. When he was ’low’ on an item he always said to his spouse, don’t let me forget to get shoe tacks (or what ever item he needed) the next time I go to the store. Clevie did a professional job at keeping the family’s shoe repair work done.
In today’s society we usually have one place of business for all our shoe repair, heel repair, boot repair, shoe shine and accessories needs and that eliminates the need for a shoe cobbler in every family.
Source: Personal knowledge .
Written about 1988.
Canning the Family’s hog meat.
Written about 1988.
There were shelves from near the top of the house to the shelf near the floor that Clevie’s wife Beatrice had her son Talmadge build for her to place her canned goods on. As she emptied a jar of canned goods she would wash the jar and place it back on the shelf. When canning time came she had her jars handy and ready to be rewashed and sterilized for her next canning work. To sterilize the canning jars Beatrice would put water in clean jars and place them in a pan of water, then she heated the jars to the boiling point and boiled them for several minutes.
Beatrice canned more than fruits and vegetables. When a hog was killed, she canned sausage, rib meat and the meat from back bones. She canned the ribs, bone and meat together but the back bones took up too much room in the jar so she removed the bone before canning the meat .The ribs and back bone meat were canned all in the same jars.
Beatrice cooked the meat before placing in the jar then cooked it more after it was in the jar. She would turn the jars upside down for the grease to solidify and remain on top of the jar and meat.
With the process of home canning the family could still have meats for their meals all summer.
I don’t know how Clevie got permission to use a place on a shelf for his shoe cobbler box because those shelves belonged to his wife, but there is where the box remained for as long as he mended shoes.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Golden Valley Community Club Meeting May 16, 2011
Here's a quick link to the Community Newsletter for the month of May. Loyce Broughton from the County Commun ity Development Credit Union will be our guest speaker. Mrs. Towery has shared a story with us, there are several announcements and more.
The Cherry Mountain Fire Department Auxiliary is hosting a Friday night dinner meeting.
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Tale of Henry Clay
Henry Clay Sisk
By Elizabeth Whisenant Towery.
Daniel Sisk married Lucinda Frazier. They had children. Daniel was married a second time to Melinda E. Killien and they had children. One son was named Henry Clay Sisk.
He was born 12 DEC 1866, in Burke County, North Carolina. He died. 3 JULY 1945. Shelby, Cleveland County, North Carolina. (Sisk sister Amanda married William Butler.)
Henry Clay married, Sarah Ellen Rominda Watts, 13 FEB 1887 in Golden Valley,
Early in their married life Henry Clay and Sarah Ellen made their home on Black Mountain Road. (The people called it Black Mountain Road. I have found documented as C.C. Road) .Henry Clay was born in Burke County but the old Sisk home place was not far from Fellowship Baptist Church and the people called it Black Mountain Church. He was a Baptist minister. He went from house to house preaching the word of God. He also preached in churches in Rutherford and Burke Counties and in the surrounding areas. He walked and would preach wherever the people called him to. In the 1940's he preached in the home of Austin Blankenship and at some point in time he preached at the Zeno Gamble home. He also preached at/in many other homes in Golden Valley.
Henry Clay preached about the wickedness of the world and the wickedness he saw around his home in the mountains. The Rev. Henry Clay preached against the oldest profession in history, prostitution and children born out of wedlock and if you participated in homosexuality ‘You would split hell wide open.’
Then there were the bootleggers. Yes! The bootleggers gave Henry Clay all the ’fodder’ (Talk), he needed to preach with. Yeah! They made Henry’s day! They kept him ’hopping.’ (Busy). Every home Henry preached in he mentioned the bootleggers. The bootleggers must turn from their wicked ways and cast their eyes toward heaven for one day the Lord would come, and they ‘shore’ (Sure) didn’t want to be in ’no’ still with a barrel of mash running off jugs of that ‘pure vile’ when the Lord returned. It seems apparent that Henry Clay must put names on the faces of his neighbors that were in the bootlegging business. I use the word apparent because of the story that was told.
It wasn't just Henry Clay but about everyone in the Valley knew the Roper men made liquor in a big way. To make a long tale short the’ revenuers ‘were hot on the Ropers ‘tail.’ ………Not trail, I was definitely told ’tail.’ (I assume … you know…posterior).
They had stopped at quite a few homes in the Valley and ask, do you know a certain man named Roper? Everyone knew whom the revenuers spoke of but no one had seen him. …absolutely no one…...I mean almost ….like never.
The ‘revenuers’ didn't expect any help from the country folk, but they would ask anyways. And oft times they would ask if they minded if they parked near their home to watch for one of the Roper’s or anyone else they might catch with a carload of ‘moonshine’ (Whiskey). Of course the revenuers were looking for the cars with the ‘back end’ of their vehicles heavily loaded. For the most part the folks would rather not have a revenuer seen parked at their house but there wasn’t much else to be said …or done.
One of the Roper’s drove a 1940 Ford Coup. His wife drove a 1937 Ford Coup….. New Cars. The wife was the blockader. It was ‘wifey’s ’ job to go in front of the husband and when she saw a Federal Agent she was to deter him. Need I say wifey knew her job and did it ‘notoriously ‘well. The name of the game was don’t ask how ‘just do it.’ It had been working as the man had a very fast car and he knew the back roads and paths into the woods like the ‘palm of his hand.’ He could quickly lose the revenuers and I might add he had been getting plenty of practice. The law had been after him for a very long time. The wife had gained the name of a notorious driver and had a car as fast if not faster than her husbands.
Roper had built a special compartment in the floorboard of his car to put half gallon (may have been quart) ‘fruit ’ jars of liquor in. He had gotten away with it for a long time. The Fed's as the Federal Agents, were often referred to be, were not greatly respected. Some rural folk had always believed that it was no more for them to make and sell whisky than for the Federal Government to make and sell whiskey. The rural folk would tell you that.The eighteenth amendment to the constitution adopted in the 1920‘s banning the sale of Liquor, wine and beer was a ‘deception.’ The law was designed to let the government have all the money from the sale of the ‘spirits’ instead of letting the little starving rural man feed his family on the profits of the ‘white lighting’ made almost in his back yard and while at no cost or bother to anyone. Nope! He didn’t bother a sole. Not his neighbors… and not the law (Lawmen).
These…. were the same people who thought if you were going to drink liquor you might as well accommodate them… as to accommodate the government, because the government would blow every ‘red’ penny they ever ‘got a holt (Hold) of ‘. They would say after the government paid’ themselves’ there was little left for anybody else.
No sir- re- bob- there ain’t nary one of them govern--ment o-fficial gonna butter ‘yore’ biscuit, you must do ‘yore’ on buttering! If you failed to listen to what they ‘tolt ye’ that was ‘yore falt not thern.’ (Theirs).
My friend the Rev. Henry Clay Sisk had a different motive. He preached against the use of liquor regardless of whether it was government made or bootlegged.’ Hit’ (It) broke up homes, took the food ‘right out of the youngeuns ‘ mouths and was not what God wanted man to’ precipitate’ in whatsoever. ‘Now God didn’t say he minded ye’all using a dab fur your sicknesses but that’s as fur as he went. He preached much more. So much …..I failed to remember. The Rev. spared no one from the wrath of God in the messages that he preached …..Absolutely no one if they made liquor …or drunk it. It seems as though the Rev. made his way from house to house trying to get people not to engage themselves in the drink of the grain or the fruit of the vine‘. Further more not to associate with or accommodate the likes of the Roper men. They were wicked people living in wicked ways, that would lead them to an eternal Hell‘ far’ (fire).
All of these people that lived on the Black Mountain Road now (MeltonR oad)and in the Valley would have you believe they were fine Christian folk and that leads to the following sentence. Just as many good Christians do… some couldn't wait to git (get) word back to the Roper men as to what the likes of Henry Clay Sisk was ‘uh ‘saying about bootlegging and who was being named in his sermons. The first names he’ spit out’ was the Roper’s.
The next part of the tale seems to indicate that every word has been told correctly told thus far. Next thing I hear the Ropers are telling Henry Clay… his tongue is like a doubleedged axe it cuts while swinging both ways. And he better ‘mind’ (Attend) his ways. My informer said , I myself must say the biggest difference between a man and his best friend isn't that the dog has four legs, but that the dog wags his tail where man wags his tongue.
NOW we see the Rev. being made to carry those mason jars filled with the‘ vile’
The REV. has been preaching of… to the ‘great running Ford’ automobile and having to load the ‘back end floorboard ‘for the mastermind of the still all by‘ hisself. ’The Roper ’ boys’ job was only to watch the Rev. as he toted all those heavy boxes and placed them in the back of the Roper vehicle. Each box’ helt’ (Held) four one gallon jars …quart‘s? Roper’s woman was nearby! She’ seed the whole thang.’
Come the next Sabbath Day, while Rev. Henry Clay was visiting in a home and having his morning coffee …a neighbor rushes into the kitchen and says,‘ Henry Clay you better have ‘yore’ (Your) self a good breakfast fur the Roper’s are ‘acuming (Coming) to hang ye.’ They have gathered in Roper Holler (Hollow) and are a ‘fixing to head this uh away.’ Henry Clay's informer didn't say if he was going to be helping the Ropers or if he came only to warn the Rev. He merely made his statement and ‘high tailed it out of sight’
Now if you are still with me, I do hate to leave you hanging but that is the way I was left. Hanging! Yes! ……….Hanging. . No one seems to know the rest of the tale except to say Rev. Henry Clay Sisk was not hanged. He lived a number of years and diednaturally. (And I’m sure without being told that Henry looked ‘natural ‘when he died because everyone that died in Golden Valley in older days looked natural). Had Henry Clay lived another six months he would have rounded out his years to eighty. That was nearly ten years past the three score and ten that some people believe to have been promised from the same God that sent Henry Clay to irritate the bootleggers of his day.
Source: Conley and Mary Hudson. Talmadge Towery and my input and study of the Sisk family history. Several of the older people told the story. It is written the way it was first told to me.
They added to the tale that Roper and his woman are deceased and are buried in the SilverCreek Church Cemetery in Burke County.
Written December 22, 2003.
Note: In trying to verify this tale I happen to mention it to Conley Hudson and his wife Mary Melton Hudson. Neither could give me the reason Henry Clay was not hanged on that Sabbath of long ago. But both had heard the tale.
Note 2: this story is in Short Tales From Golden Valley. Volume 12 pf 49
By Elizabeth Whisenant Towery.
Daniel Sisk married Lucinda Frazier. They had children. Daniel was married a second time to Melinda E. Killien and they had children. One son was named Henry Clay Sisk.
He was born 12 DEC 1866, in Burke County, North Carolina. He died. 3 JULY 1945. Shelby, Cleveland County, North Carolina. (Sisk sister Amanda married William Butler.)
Henry Clay married, Sarah Ellen Rominda Watts, 13 FEB 1887 in Golden Valley,
Early in their married life Henry Clay and Sarah Ellen made their home on Black Mountain Road. (The people called it Black Mountain Road. I have found documented as C.C. Road) .Henry Clay was born in Burke County but the old Sisk home place was not far from Fellowship Baptist Church and the people called it Black Mountain Church. He was a Baptist minister. He went from house to house preaching the word of God. He also preached in churches in Rutherford and Burke Counties and in the surrounding areas. He walked and would preach wherever the people called him to. In the 1940's he preached in the home of Austin Blankenship and at some point in time he preached at the Zeno Gamble home. He also preached at/in many other homes in Golden Valley.
Henry Clay preached about the wickedness of the world and the wickedness he saw around his home in the mountains. The Rev. Henry Clay preached against the oldest profession in history, prostitution and children born out of wedlock and if you participated in homosexuality ‘You would split hell wide open.’
Then there were the bootleggers. Yes! The bootleggers gave Henry Clay all the ’fodder’ (Talk), he needed to preach with. Yeah! They made Henry’s day! They kept him ’hopping.’ (Busy). Every home Henry preached in he mentioned the bootleggers. The bootleggers must turn from their wicked ways and cast their eyes toward heaven for one day the Lord would come, and they ‘shore’ (Sure) didn’t want to be in ’no’ still with a barrel of mash running off jugs of that ‘pure vile’ when the Lord returned. It seems apparent that Henry Clay must put names on the faces of his neighbors that were in the bootlegging business. I use the word apparent because of the story that was told.
It wasn't just Henry Clay but about everyone in the Valley knew the Roper men made liquor in a big way. To make a long tale short the’ revenuers ‘were hot on the Ropers ‘tail.’ ………Not trail, I was definitely told ’tail.’ (I assume … you know…posterior).
They had stopped at quite a few homes in the Valley and ask, do you know a certain man named Roper? Everyone knew whom the revenuers spoke of but no one had seen him. …absolutely no one…...I mean almost ….like never.
The ‘revenuers’ didn't expect any help from the country folk, but they would ask anyways. And oft times they would ask if they minded if they parked near their home to watch for one of the Roper’s or anyone else they might catch with a carload of ‘moonshine’ (Whiskey). Of course the revenuers were looking for the cars with the ‘back end’ of their vehicles heavily loaded. For the most part the folks would rather not have a revenuer seen parked at their house but there wasn’t much else to be said …or done.
One of the Roper’s drove a 1940 Ford Coup. His wife drove a 1937 Ford Coup….. New Cars. The wife was the blockader. It was ‘wifey’s ’ job to go in front of the husband and when she saw a Federal Agent she was to deter him. Need I say wifey knew her job and did it ‘notoriously ‘well. The name of the game was don’t ask how ‘just do it.’ It had been working as the man had a very fast car and he knew the back roads and paths into the woods like the ‘palm of his hand.’ He could quickly lose the revenuers and I might add he had been getting plenty of practice. The law had been after him for a very long time. The wife had gained the name of a notorious driver and had a car as fast if not faster than her husbands.
Roper had built a special compartment in the floorboard of his car to put half gallon (may have been quart) ‘fruit ’ jars of liquor in. He had gotten away with it for a long time. The Fed's as the Federal Agents, were often referred to be, were not greatly respected. Some rural folk had always believed that it was no more for them to make and sell whisky than for the Federal Government to make and sell whiskey. The rural folk would tell you that.The eighteenth amendment to the constitution adopted in the 1920‘s banning the sale of Liquor, wine and beer was a ‘deception.’ The law was designed to let the government have all the money from the sale of the ‘spirits’ instead of letting the little starving rural man feed his family on the profits of the ‘white lighting’ made almost in his back yard and while at no cost or bother to anyone. Nope! He didn’t bother a sole. Not his neighbors… and not the law (Lawmen).
These…. were the same people who thought if you were going to drink liquor you might as well accommodate them… as to accommodate the government, because the government would blow every ‘red’ penny they ever ‘got a holt (Hold) of ‘. They would say after the government paid’ themselves’ there was little left for anybody else.
No sir- re- bob- there ain’t nary one of them govern--ment o-fficial gonna butter ‘yore’ biscuit, you must do ‘yore’ on buttering! If you failed to listen to what they ‘tolt ye’ that was ‘yore falt not thern.’ (Theirs).
My friend the Rev. Henry Clay Sisk had a different motive. He preached against the use of liquor regardless of whether it was government made or bootlegged.’ Hit’ (It) broke up homes, took the food ‘right out of the youngeuns ‘ mouths and was not what God wanted man to’ precipitate’ in whatsoever. ‘Now God didn’t say he minded ye’all using a dab fur your sicknesses but that’s as fur as he went. He preached much more. So much …..I failed to remember. The Rev. spared no one from the wrath of God in the messages that he preached …..Absolutely no one if they made liquor …or drunk it. It seems as though the Rev. made his way from house to house trying to get people not to engage themselves in the drink of the grain or the fruit of the vine‘. Further more not to associate with or accommodate the likes of the Roper men. They were wicked people living in wicked ways, that would lead them to an eternal Hell‘ far’ (fire).
All of these people that lived on the Black Mountain Road now (MeltonR oad)and in the Valley would have you believe they were fine Christian folk and that leads to the following sentence. Just as many good Christians do… some couldn't wait to git (get) word back to the Roper men as to what the likes of Henry Clay Sisk was ‘uh ‘saying about bootlegging and who was being named in his sermons. The first names he’ spit out’ was the Roper’s.
The next part of the tale seems to indicate that every word has been told correctly told thus far. Next thing I hear the Ropers are telling Henry Clay… his tongue is like a doubleedged axe it cuts while swinging both ways. And he better ‘mind’ (Attend) his ways. My informer said , I myself must say the biggest difference between a man and his best friend isn't that the dog has four legs, but that the dog wags his tail where man wags his tongue.
NOW we see the Rev. being made to carry those mason jars filled with the‘ vile’
The REV. has been preaching of… to the ‘great running Ford’ automobile and having to load the ‘back end floorboard ‘for the mastermind of the still all by‘ hisself. ’The Roper ’ boys’ job was only to watch the Rev. as he toted all those heavy boxes and placed them in the back of the Roper vehicle. Each box’ helt’ (Held) four one gallon jars …quart‘s? Roper’s woman was nearby! She’ seed the whole thang.’
Come the next Sabbath Day, while Rev. Henry Clay was visiting in a home and having his morning coffee …a neighbor rushes into the kitchen and says,‘ Henry Clay you better have ‘yore’ (Your) self a good breakfast fur the Roper’s are ‘acuming (Coming) to hang ye.’ They have gathered in Roper Holler (Hollow) and are a ‘fixing to head this uh away.’ Henry Clay's informer didn't say if he was going to be helping the Ropers or if he came only to warn the Rev. He merely made his statement and ‘high tailed it out of sight’
Now if you are still with me, I do hate to leave you hanging but that is the way I was left. Hanging! Yes! ……….Hanging. . No one seems to know the rest of the tale except to say Rev. Henry Clay Sisk was not hanged. He lived a number of years and diednaturally. (And I’m sure without being told that Henry looked ‘natural ‘when he died because everyone that died in Golden Valley in older days looked natural). Had Henry Clay lived another six months he would have rounded out his years to eighty. That was nearly ten years past the three score and ten that some people believe to have been promised from the same God that sent Henry Clay to irritate the bootleggers of his day.
Source: Conley and Mary Hudson. Talmadge Towery and my input and study of the Sisk family history. Several of the older people told the story. It is written the way it was first told to me.
They added to the tale that Roper and his woman are deceased and are buried in the SilverCreek Church Cemetery in Burke County.
Written December 22, 2003.
Note: In trying to verify this tale I happen to mention it to Conley Hudson and his wife Mary Melton Hudson. Neither could give me the reason Henry Clay was not hanged on that Sabbath of long ago. But both had heard the tale.
Note 2: this story is in Short Tales From Golden Valley. Volume 12 pf 49
Monday, April 18, 2011
USGS Topographical Maps - Topographic Maps - United States Geological Survey
I have 4 Bumpy maps. These are maps that show the topography of our area and North, South, East and West. The maps I have came from an Office Supply in Morganton that's since gone out of business. USGS Topographical Maps - Topographic Maps - United States Geological Survey The maps are available here, and for those of you who want to learn more about the area, and answer the burning questions -- What Mountain am I looking at? Is that really Mount Mitchell?
I don't know about you, but I like to know. So here's a nice little link for bumpy maps of Western North Carolina and you'll find, Golden Valley, Sunshine, Duncan's Creek, Whitesides, and much more.
USGS Topographical Maps - Topographic Maps - United States Geological Survey
I don't know about you, but I like to know. So here's a nice little link for bumpy maps of Western North Carolina and you'll find, Golden Valley, Sunshine, Duncan's Creek, Whitesides, and much more.
USGS Topographical Maps - Topographic Maps - United States Geological Survey
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